15 YEARS IN BUSINESS.
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20K open (2:00 deduction per beer)
Machetes for Awards
Sprint Triathlon
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How running helps athlete with autism defy the odds
On April 18, 2022, 27-year-old Kevin Clark will toe the line at the 126th Boston Marathon. It will be his second time running the Boston Marathon and his 11th marathon.
Kevin Clark before Without Limits Charleston practice.
At any given Without Limits running practice, Kevin is among the first to finish a workout, often averaging under a 6-minute per mile pace. He’s known to be one of fastest on the team, but even more than that, he’s often the most encouraging.
“The moment I get to practice, it’s the best part of my day,” Kevin said.
While these accomplishments and his spirit are uplifting to his teammates, they bring tears to his mom’s eyes. She thinks back to his childhood when she was uncertain about what his future would hold.
“At three years old, he just all of a sudden stopped walking,” said Kevin’s mom Melissa. “His doctor told me he probably just wanted to stop. I pushed to get him an x-ray and we discovered he broke his leg.”
His high tolerance for pain was one thing that made Melissa realize something wasn’t right.
“He didn’t cry,” Melissa said. “He didn’t like to sleep. He didn’t react to things (like sounds) like babies typically do. Doctors told me he was deaf. Another doctor told me he was epileptic.”
Melissa didn’t accept these diagnoses. She worked with her father, Kevin’s grandfather, and countless other specialists to try to figure out the true reason Kevin didn’t behave like a typical baby.
Finally, a doctor at Children’s Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta diagnosed Kevin as autistic.
When she first received the diagnosis, Melissa and her family were unsure about how this would impact Kevin’s future. Within a few years, Kevin was introduced to running and his entire world changed.
Kevin stands with Mom and Grandpa on Grandpa’s 80th birthday at Galveston Half Marathon.
“It was in my DNA before I knew it was there,” Kevin said.
Kevin started running track and cross country in middle school and immediately exceled. But, even with his success, there were people who tried to keep him from running.
“Teachers said he needed to stop because he wouldn’t stop on his own,” Melissa said. “With autism comes sensory integration issues. Kevin’s threshold for pain is different than a lot of people.”
But, even then, Melissa knew Kevin was born to run.
“He was MVP in high school and went to [the state meet] all four years,” Melissa said.
Kevin went on to run in college at North Greenville University. When there was turnover in the coaching staff, his roommate introduced him to structured training. This advanced his success even more. Now, in his adult years, running brings him a sense of accomplishment.
“I can’t sing. I can’t dance. Running has always been a passion of mine. It’s the only thing I can do really well,” Kevin said.
While joking about why he runs, he explains that running has helped him get through hardships as he’s struggled to find his career path, jumping from job to job. It’s helped him form friendships when he’s felt alone.
Kevin Clark wins Victory Junction Half Marathon in 2012.
“Kevin is not an outgoing personality. He didn’t excel with his grades,” said Melissa. “He wasn’t the most popular. When he would run races, I would encourage him to congratulate the winner. It got him to feel more comfortable… then he started winning. It’s taught him sportsmanship”
In 2019, Kevin joined Without Limits Charleston because he wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon. He said he had been searching for more specific and challenging coaching and saw others’ success through Without Limits.
“Really, I’d say it’s opened up what a team should be. It’s a group of people that come together. No matter what performance level they’re at, we’re all working together,” Kevin said.
Kevin is coached by Chris Bailey, who has helped him reach personal records (PRs) in several distances, and helped him achieve his lifelong dream of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. He ran Boston in 2021 and looks forward to going back to Beantown this year.
Kevin will also run the Berlin Marathon this year which will help him complete five of the six World Majors Marathons (WMM).
As Kevin continues to train for the Boston Marathon and other key races, he reflects on what Without Limits means to him.
“I’m grateful beyond measure for the coaching and the support of the team,” Kevin said.
For Melissa, who is also on the Without Limits Charleston team, seeing Kevin as part of the team helps her see how her son’s life has panned out better than she ever imagined.
From a 3-year-old who suddenly stopped walking to a 27-year-old who often comes in first at races, Kevin continues to impress his teammates and family.
“He has a circle around him that supports him in more than just running… and, he is complimentary and encouraging to everyone on the team,” Melissa said.
My Journey to Without Limits – A Story of Survival
The Journey to Without Limits
by Kim Baldwin
January 2022
September 2015. I was lying in an ICU bed thinking to myself, how the F*ck did I get here?
Six months before that, I had started a slow descent into a darkness I had never known. I was close to weighing 300lbs. And I was training for the SMART Ride, a 160-mile bike ride from Miami to Key West, in November. When I began to experience chest pain and shortness of breath, I told myself it was due to my weight and to shut up. This is what being 300 lbs. means. For months, it was nothing but me, my bike and the horrible stories I told myself. My daily practice was punishment through starvation, mileage, self-bullying. Rinse. Repeat.
By mid-September, I just not feeling well. So what did I do? Compete in the Wrightsville Beach Triathlon, just as I always had. My thinking was, well, you are getting a cold, you really don’t eat, you weigh a lot. This is what happens. Shut up. Continue with the punishment.
That September race day, I entered the water, found my spot, and took off when then gun fired. All very normal. I made it about 10 strokes into Banks Channel. Out of nowhere, I felt a wave of nausea tear through my body, from the bottoms of my feet up. Then I couldn’t breathe. I remember thinking, “I’m gonna be one of those triathletes who dies in the swim and everyone will say, ‘At least she died doing what she loved.” The ironic thing? I did all the swimming, biking and running not from a place of love (or mild enjoyment) but from a place of pure, unadulterated punishment.
My hand shot up. The lifeguards raced over, got me on the coast guard boat and took me immediately to the docks at Sea Path Marina where the paramedics were waiting for me. I knew something wasn’t right but when they checked me out, my vitals were ok. They let me go. In my mind, I convinced myself, again, that this is what happens when you are completely out of control with your weight; never mind I had done that swim hundreds of times with no issues.
Two days later, I ended up in the ICU. Both lungs were filled with blood clots and I had what they call a saddle pulmonary embolism. (This is not something you want to Google.) When the doctor came in my room his jaw hit the floor. He couldn’t believe I was alive. People don’t live through what I experienced. I wasn’t supposed to be here.
While taking months off from work and going to pulmonary rehab, I got much needed time to think. I knew I couldn’t ruin the do-over I had been gifted. I couldn’t spend the next half of my life living in darkness, anger, shame and blame.
For the next three years, I dug deep. I did the work. I unraveled my childhood trauma and started to see how that impacted every single strand of my life, especially my relationships with food and exercise. With the help of a nutritionist specialized in eating disorders and a therapist specializing in childhood trauma, I slowly started coming out of the darkness. I started to understand the stories I told myself were just that, stories.
I learned my eating disorder probably started when I was about five or six years old. I uncovered the root of my depression, anger, shame and toxic thinking. And I finally understood how it all was inextricably linked. I starved myself as a form of punishment. I exercised as punishment. Food brought me no joy. In fact it brought me the exact opposite. Who eats for pleasure? Running is fun?
In the movie “28 Days,” one of the characters, upon leaving treatment, wants to adopt a dog. His therapist says he can have a dog if he takes care of a house plant for a year. If the plant doesn’t die, he can get a dog.
That’s what my three years of doing the work was for me. I lost 100 lbs., got my mind right, and felt stable enough – mentally, physically, spiritually – to start exercising again. I wanted to see what a body with 100 lbs. less could do.
I joined Without Limits (WOL) and started with swim practice twice a week. Then I added run practice twice a week, signed up for Training Peaks and all of a sudden, I had a coach and long runs on Saturday.
Intimidated. That’s how I spent the first few months of swim and run practices. I felt so insecure. I was the slowest one. I didn’t want to get in anyone’s way. Did I really belong? Were my old thought pattern and stories creeping back in?
After one particular run practice I left in tears. I didn’t realize anyone noticed. Coach Kristen called me the next morning. She said to me, “Boo, you belong.” Somehow, she knew. That day, it all changed. I needed to get out of my own way. So I did.
Then COVID hit. All of a sudden everything was shut down. Even swimming at Wrightsville Beach was shut down. The gift of COVID was that I realized just how important running and swimming were to my mental and physical health. I needed movement. It was my way out of the darkness. It relieved my anxiety. It allowed me to properly fuel my body. Talk about a 180!
There was another COVID gift. I realized just how important WOL was to me in other ways. The coaches gave me accountability and encouragement. And I made friends too. Amazing friends! Relationships of any kind are almost impossible when you tell yourself stories. So in those first few months of the pandemic, it was like time stood still. I was able to reflect on what I was missing. I saw how important this community of athletes is to me. The friendships I’ve made far outweigh any PR.
Six years later, post-clots, mental breakdown and eating disorder diagnosis, I’ve never been better. Sure, I have my days. We all do. Now, I sit with my feelings, try to understand them, and then move on. Sometimes I work them out on the track or in the pool. Sometimes I groan with the ladies at Starbucks post-workout. The one thing that remains consistent is when I leave practice, my cup is always full.
I couldn’t have imagined me being a member of WOL. But here I am, one of its ardent supporters. My original assignment was to write about why I joined WOL. But honestly, it’s more about why I stay. It has truly been a journey. And one that is nowhere near over.
2021 Ends 2022 is Near – Enjoy the Journey
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Runners, Multisport Athletes, Supporters, and Endurance Enthusiasts
What a year it has been. It started out tough, with more postponements of events and altered training schedules. We had to stay strong both mentally and physically! In the second half of the year, large running events returned, the Olympics came back, world records were broken, and people continued to break through their limits. While we athletes love to stick with an unaltered schedule, facing the challenges of our lives when the world around us changes adds to our journey. For us, we woke up every morning and went to work. When we see our name every day WITHOUT LIMITS, we were reminded that we can face the challenges ahead of us and overcome whatever life may throw at us, TOGETHER! 2022 will be a whole new journey. I don’t like to say “beginning” because we can start today, but regardless, January 1st is a fresh start to a new year. It is a way to look back and reflect on the past and look forward and say how can I be better. The next two weeks are a great time to spend with friends and family and rest your mind a little, but keep training your body. One thing we learned over the last 18 months, we need to be HEALTHY! Being fit and working our bodies is important to boosting our immune system. Below we highlighted our year and also added what we have in store for 2022. Thank you for following us, and being part of our journey. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays. We hope to see you at one of our next races or practices. Enjoy the rest of 2021 and SET GOALS NOT LIMITS for 2022! See you out there. |
RECAP OF 2021There are so many stories and things to say about 2021. Below is a very brief recap of what we are all about. However, to get the full experience, you can get involved in Without Limits many ways! Coaching, events, nutrition, or follow us on social media! Tell us your story. Our athletes and the performances that happen at our events help tell the story. We hope you have a great 2022. We kicked off 2021 helping athletes reschedule their racing calendars because of postponed races. It was a challenge we had to overcome since many races got moved to the spring or to the fall of 2021. Keeping athletes engaged and healthy was the number one priority. Our events were a huge success in 2021: Without Limits produced the Southern Tour Ultra and the Novant Health Wilmington Marathon one week apart at the beginning of April. These races were postponed from January and February and our team was focused and worked very very hard to pull off two successful races just 6 days apart. The Marathon contributed over 2 million in economic impact and raised nearly $40,000 for local groups and non-profits including Health Possible. We teamed up with Set Up Events on the White Lake Half Pro-Am, and with the help of Coach and Pro Triathlete Aaron Kolk, we were able to provide a prize purse for Pro-Triathletes all over the USA to come race in White Lake. We are growing that race in 2022 and hope to see you there! This fall our races had record numbers starting with the Copperhead 20K and 20K Beer Relay with over 700 athletes and 140 teams and over $3000 going to area non-profits with Plastic Ocean Project coming on board as a benefactor! We then moved into the YMCA Wrightsville Beach Triathlon which had over 1100 triathletes and raised over $20,000 for the YMCA of Southeastern NC. Swim the Loop sold out and raised money for the NC Coastal Federation. Our team stepped up to Volunteer at this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 NC.
We then shifted to the Parkway Subaru Battleship Half Marathon which was just shy of 2000 athletes and raised nearly $8000 for local groups including the living with water fund for the Battleship. We finished up in 2021 with the Shakori 40 and brewed our first Beer for a race, the Shakori 40 Hazy IPA. This was a huge hit and a ton of fun.
The Wilmington Team has been steady all year, holding each other accountable to attend practices and racing to new personal bests. A crew got to live their dreams at this fall’s Boston Marathon. We love the fact that 55-60 people wake up every Tuesday and Thursday to Run. 20-30 people spend their afternoon running with us and a consistent 20-30 wake up to swim with us each week no matter what the weather is! That is accountability! If you want to surround yourself with people who care and who want to improve, come join us at practice! Our Charleston Team has grown and hired two new coaches. Welcome Meredith Nelson and Jennifer Bennett. Congrats to the Charleston team for all of their 2021 success. Coach Chris Bailey and crew continue to plan their 2022 year and are ready to help anyone in the Charleston area improve! Visit Charleston
The Greenville Team is youth and Ultra focused. Coach Hammersmith added Jay Baker to his list of coaching staff and has put a lot of focus on the Upstate Ultra race series that includes over 50 events in upstate South Carolina. Greenville has a successful Without Limits Youth Team and continues to help athletes reach their goals in the long distance races! Coach and Athlete Victoria Hammersmith is also leading the pack with her amazing race finishes. Visit Greenville Coach Trey is meeting athletes very early in the morning in Columbia! Talk about dedication. Coach Trey is developing Without Limits Youth athletes in Columbia and continues to work with individual athletes to help them reach goals. Visit Columbia Welcome Coach Josh Estep to the coaching team. He has put his love for running into the Triangle Youth community and the Without Limits Triangle Team has taken off! If you are in the triangle, contact Coach Josh Estep. Visit Without Limits Triangle Cross Country Camp – Coach Colin Hackman and Michelle Hackman have kept the Without Limits Cross Country camp alive during the pandemic. They worked hard to follow all protocols and have helped kids live the dream of training in the Mountains of NC. The Without Limits XC Camp is helping some of the top runners in North and South Carolina get better but also have fun and enjoy running. Look for details on the 2022 Without Limits XC Camp.
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2022 TEAMWe are kicking it back old school style for our 2022 team shirts! All athletes who want to be a part of Without Limits Team by attending practices, youth programs, or virtual online coaching programs will receive a 2022 team shirt! We hope you will consider being part of the team in 2022 if you are looking to improve, be held accountable or simply enjoy endurance training. We can help adult or youth athletes with structured programming during any time of the year. Our goal is help you reach that PEAK toward your race goals or fitness goals or just to stay accountable with solid strucutre and programming that makes sense for you. If you are in – contact us by clicking the button below
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2022 WITHOUT LIMITS EVENT SCHEDULEJanuary 20-22 – SOUTHERN TOUR ULTRA– Last Man Standing – Backyard Ultra Approved February 26th – NOVANT HEALTH WILMINGTON MARATHON– 26.2 Marathon April 23rd – SWIM RUN LAKE JAMES– Short Course May 7th – White Lake Pro-AM Half– 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run Mid July – Without Limits Cross Country Camp– Lees McRae College – Banner Elk August 27th – Copperhead 20K and 20K Beer Relay– 20K Individual September 24th – YMCA Wrightsville Beach Triathlon– 1200 Swim, 11 mile bike, 5K run October 2022 – Swim the Loop– 1.3 mile point to point swim November 13th – Parkway Subaru Battleship Half Marathon– 13.1 Half Marathon December 10th – Shakori 40– 40 mile individual |
PODCAST CHANNELWe hope you have enjoyed our podcast channel. We love talking about how life and endurance sports are intertwined and how you can improve! We will continue to offer our podcasts and we appreciate if you follow us on any of your podcast streaming networks!Latest Episodes – Episode 20: Ice Baths, Breathing and Intermittent Fasting. What I have learned and explored– Episode 21 – Breathing – Wim Hof for Endurance athletes and more techniques for meditation and performance. – Episode 22 – What it means to be a VIP Runner? Why go VIP at your next race.
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Without Limits™ is a company that provides the essential services and products for runners and triathletes. With a coaching division, dedicated apparel, nutritional products, and unique events, we make people healthier through passion, planning, and motivation so they exceed their goals.
Our logo is our journey. As runners and in life, we set ever-increasing goals and peaks to achieve. We face ever-widening obstacles and gaps to overcome. Embracing our challenges and celebrating our successes, we choose to live and run Without Limits™. Contact U s
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14 Year Anniversary in Business
by: Tom Clifford
WITHOUT LIMITS: 14 YEARS….HOW WE STARTED: 14 years ago we decided to start a business coaching runners and it turned out to be a little more than that:)
I met Kyle Shepard playing beer pong and told him I am going to start coaching runners at the track and he should come out. Kyle said. IGGHHHTT. I’ll be there. (I honestly didn’t believe him) but he showed up. Alecia Williams also showed up as she was my first client that I met in the gym and Erin Hogston a former UNCW hurdler also showed up.
That business was going to be named High Voltage running, because I loved the band ACDC. Really I loved Thunderstruck but that didn’t make sense to name a running group Thunderstruck. After some thought, I figured ehhh, High Voltage a little corny and took a vote with some runners that were already training with us. Without Limits stuck out as one of the great running films about Steve Prefontaine. So we moved forward with the name WITHOUT LIMITS and actually trademarked the name a year later.
The group grew and people improved. I learned a lot in those first years about working with ability levels from novice to good age group runners. Kristen Smith started helping me time from the beginning and is now still coaching and a Wilmington Firefighter. Kristen has been a tremendous coach over the years and we appreciate everything she has done!
(added: I can’t forget Anthony Enoch who took me to my first marathon in Myrtle Beach and is still a current friend and athlete)
In 2009 I got into triathlon. I enjoyed racing triathlon and really wanted to begin coaching triathletes as well. So after a year of studying triathlon and getting certified, we added triathlon to our list of services.
I then realized Wilmington did not have a full marathon in the city. The NHRMC Wilmington NC Marathon and Half Marathon was born, formerly the Quintiles Wrightsville Beach Marathon as many of you remember it. We put together a great team of people to make the race happen. The race had 1400 runners in it’s first year and putting on events really got my juices flowing. The marathon grew to a near 4000 runners over the last 10 years and continues to change and adapt to our city and hopefully will continue to be successful.
In 2011 Annette Clifford quit her job to help me with the business. We now had just one source of income for our family and we just got married and bought a house. Annette fixed a lot! If it wasn’t for her our books would probably be backwards.
In 2012 we had a coaching breakthrough when Christa Iammarino qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon. This was any coaches dream to be able to be on an athlete’s journey to an OTQ.
Also in 2012, I met Jon Carne from Port City Apparel. Jon helped our brand improve drastically through apparel. We began creating our own race t-shirts for races. The race t-shirt industry just didn’t meet expectations with design and comfort. Jon really helped our company and our races create the best shirts you can get at a race!
2012 remained a great year as we had started our Without Limits Youth program with Colin Hackman. The goal was development of young athletes so they could go to High School developed and excited to run. Aaron Kolk came along and has been a tremendous coach for youth and adult and now triathlete coach for so many.
Now Without Limits, the Marathon and Without Limits Apparel were three main pillars of our company. I met Mike Duncan at Sage Island who helped us with branding and web design. With my brother Steve and Mike dialing in our logo we had a good branded logo that had meaning! WITHOUT LIMITS…..Embrace the Challenge.
Now Without Limits had some other coaches in other locations. Chris Bailey in Charleston. Matt Hammersmith in Greenville, Trey McCain in Columbia and Josh Estep in Raleigh area.
After going to one of Matt’s races in Greenville, that sparked and idea to create a trail relay that brought families, friends of all ages to compete in an ultra marathon style age graded relay race in a big field. The Southern Tour Ultra was born. A combination of ideas into one. The Southern Tour was another pillar of Without Limits that added my kind of flavor. Woods, Beer, Running, Classic Rock Music and competitiveness! From Southern tour Copperhead 20K and Shakori 40 were both branches off the same concept with different distances and vibes at each event.
In 2019 long time runner and director Ed Fore was ready to hand over the The Parkway Subaru Battleship NC Half Marathon. I partnered with Colin Hackman and Go Time events on this race and was honored to take this race over from Ed as he made it live for 20 years.
In 2019 three of our ladies qualified for the 2020 U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials which was another coaching honor to be on the Journey of Erin Hogston who was one of my first athletes, Brittany Perkins and Peyton Thomas.
In 2019 I met Shawn and Scott Tunis along with Diana Davis our dietitian and we created a vitamin and long run recovery shake line that will assist runners with better nutrition and recovery. Runners Daily Vitamin
Of all of these highlights, there are so many accomplishments by athletes along the way that I am so excited to have been on their journey. Also so many people to thank. Beth Ann Soporowski for coming on board and helping us with back end work and sponsors, Maleia Tumolo Celia Wolff, JP Merchant and Angela Midget who all have brought great energy to practices.
Our longest sponsor Bennie Sheally and Sheally Insurance Group and all of our sponsors.
While this may look like a good ol’ highlight reel, there were many struggles along the way. But I can say every single struggle made us a stronger company, better communicators and always lit a fire under us to BE BETTER.
We are Without Limits, and we appreciate the support from so many.
Visit us now and grab some apparel if you want:)
The Who, What, Where and When of FOAM ROLLING your Lower Body
Written By: Coach Maleia Tumolo
Let’s talk about the basics and importance of foam rolling.
Foam rolling is something a lot of athletes know they should do. “Some” athletes use a foam roller on a regular basis but let us be honest, most runners don’t use one often or at all and would benefit from regular use.
Foam rollers come in different sizes and lengths. Some are smooth and some have ridges. Some are hard and some soft. Honestly, just a basic foam roller is all you need in order to reap the benefits associated with using one regularly. It doesn’t have to be expensive. You can purchase one for as little as $15.00. 
The importance of foam rolling is simple. It aids in recovery and helps prevent injuries. Basically, a foam roller acts as a way for you to massage yourself by breaking down adhesions between the muscles and increasing blood flow to the area. It also helps speed up recovery, decrease muscle soreness and increase flexibility.
The great thing about foam rolling is that you can control the intensity by adjusting the pressure and/or body position and the speed of rolling.
Your goal is to find areas of discomfort. Once you find these areas, you should stop/slow down and put pressure to release the knot. You can also manipulate the area by adding in other movements such as ankle circles, flexing and extending appendages, contracting and relaxing muscles, and using small lateral movements across the knot to help break up the problem area.
When should you foam roll? After workouts and on your days off are your best options. You will want shorter sessions on multiple days. Instead of one long session once a week. Just like everything else you can roll too much so four 15 minutes sessions 4 times a week is much easier on your body then one 1-hour session on a Sunday. You will want to take your time while rolling. Focus on what you are doing and try to stay in tune with how your body is feeling so that you can find those problem areas. Roll one area at a time and do 2-3 minutes on each body part. Stick to only rolling the belly of the muscle and be cautious of your ligament and tendons.
Check out the video below to see a video of a basic lower body foam rolling routine any athlete can do.
These areas include:
- Glutes
- Hamstrings
- IT-bands
- Quads
- Shins
- Lower back
Video: Intro to Foam Rolling
http://bit.ly/foamrollingwol